Practical information on the Walsh test
Medication that can distort the results of the Walsh Test
Some medication, including antihistamines and desensitisation therapy, <strong>distort</strong> the results of the Walsh Test. Antihistamines distort test results for a period of 3 weeks and desensitisation for 6 months.
Anesthesia will affect the test results for a period of 1 week.
In the following document, you can find a list of medications that distort the results of the Walsh Test. Other medication cannot be ruled out from having an effect on the results of the test, and therefore full information on this is not always available. Please contact us if you are taking any medication.
Table of medication that influences the Walsh Test
What can you do if you are taking medication that can distort the test results?
- If possible, stop taking the medication
- If you are, for example, taking psychotherapeutic medication, without which one has reason to fear damage to your health or life, continue taking this medication
There are two options if the test results have been distorted by medication:
- You can accept that the results will be distorted and we will take this into account when carrying out the test analysis. For example, antihistamines cause false negative results.
- You can carry out a methylation test (Doctor’s Data Methylation Test) as an alternative to the Walsh protocol. The disadvantage of this test: it can only detect undermethylation, not overmethylation.
- You can carry out both tests (the Walsh Test and the Doctor’s Data Test).
- You can carry out the methylation test at a later point in your treatment and first treat other epigenetic parameters.
In the initial consultation, we will determine the right approach for you together.
Preparation
You should stop taking any dietary supplements 48 hours before blood samples are taken. This also applies if you feel unwell due to discontinuing the use of dietary supplements. If you take your dietary supplements withing the 48-hour time frame before testing, the test results will be distorted. This will have a negative effect on your treatment. Therefore, please follow these instructions without exception.
Please remember that you will also have to stop any supplementation 48 hours prior to any subsequent testing.
This does not apply to medication or thyroid hormones such as psychiatric drugs.
This test does not have to be taken on an empty stomach. Therefore, you may eat and drink before blood is taken.
For this test, you must give a urine sample. We do not recommend you to give a sample of the first morning urine. Please do not bring urine samples into the practice. The urine sample must be taken at the practice. We will provide you with the necessary containers. Make sure you are able to give urine in our practice at the time of your appointment by drinking sufficiently before your appointment.
Other blood test results
So that we may treat you with the correct medication after the Walsh Test, we need additional blood parameters that we will sample at the practice in addition to the Walsh Procedure tests:
- Liver function tests
- Homocysteine level
- Blood type: For the therapy, we need to know your blood type. This means we just need the blood type letter(s) (A, AB, O, B), not the rhesus type (+ or -) etc. It is possible to find out your blood type from your general practitioner, from blood donations, etc.
If you do not know your blood type at the time of the blood withdrawal, we can find this out when taking blood samples. Cost: approx. 40 Euros.
Upon request, you may of course have other tests done. Please let the practice know at the time of having your blood taken.
Times for taking blood samples
We may restrict times to collect blood samples due to logistical reasons. For general times see Appointments/Contact
The collection of blood samples lasts 30-45 minutes.
Payment for the Walsh Test
We do not earn a profit for the tests. Costs incurred for tests are usually settled directly between the laboratory and the patient. However, for the Walsh Test, we want to save you over $200 on individual shipping costs.
This is only possible if we, as a practice, collect samples and settle incurred test costs with the laboratory. Therefore, we pay all costs to the US laboratory in advance. Part of the Walsh Test is also available in Germany. You will receive an invoice directly from the German laboratory for this part.
The cost for taking blood samples may sometimes be covered as part of appointments. Please check the service description for your appointment.
Please be aware that only a limited number of patients may take the Walsh Test each month. This is because the space in the special cargo containers we use to send samples to the US is limited. For logistical reasons, we cannot carry out any more tests at the moment. In many cases, testing places for the current month are already full, and sometimes for the following month as well. As a principle, we offer patients the next available test date. Giving priority to certain patients (for any reason) is simply not possible.